Fire and the Islands
by justalildifferent101
Summary: Is there a such thing as 'happily ever after? More importantly, is there a such thing as being forgiven? That may just be the key to healing the relationship between May and Steven after they travel to Kanto under desperate circumstances. Rated T/M-ish.
1. Island Haze

**Author's Note: **Fire and the Islands is a continuation of the first story, Steel Water. The link is on my profile. If you read Steel Water, you'll have the best chance of understanding the events. Well, enjoy story number 2!

_May Birch.  
_

...

Steven didn't look like a delinquent to me. He looked like a silent head turner, silver haired and blankly thoughtful. I'm glad he was like that, that way only I could read whatever he was thinking, saying or doing. He looked like a rich boy who kept to himself the way all rich boys should. He was distant and intimidating, but no, not a delinquent.

I didn't look like a cheater, to me. I looked like an ash haired do-gooder, always innocent and willing to help. Good thing I hadn't spoken to anyone who thought of me that way. I'd laugh in their faces before I could stop myself. I was wild and prideful, but no, not a cheater.

Steven's voice shook my half awake consciousness. "What are you thinking about? We've got more wood to cut,"

He was holding about four bundles of thick bodied sticks and twigs, one hand on my shoulder to make sure I was awake. I looked down at the stacks of logs and moss that lay out before me, piled high and stretched around the skirts of the woods. It hit me with an internal groan how long it would take to cut all this crap.

"Can't we take five? Look- it's almost sunset."

"And?"

His back was still turned to me, and he dropped the logs into the square of stones that we had arranged for a fire earlier in the day. They bonked together noisily, and I used the sound to drown out my muttered sentence.

"I always break at sunset. You know that,"

He still heard me. "Go ahead. I'm almost done here," he gestured out toward the crack of orange afternoon sunlight that struck through the trees, revealing the dark overhanging of trunks beyond the campsite. "Enjoy Fortune Island before we get kicked out,"

I had already dashed toward the crevice filled with sunlight and slipped into the woods, and I remember wishing Steven would quit being such a pessimist. But even as my walk sped up, I couldn't help but realize how honest he was being. There was no one that could say with a straight face, 'Things will end up great. You'll be accepted again someday.'

I scoffed into the sunlit woods. Yeah. Maybe.

The walk had been going on almost an hour now, and I was starting to wonder how close the edge of Fortune Island was. Probably not far- I could catch wafts of ocean scent and city dust beginning to enter the forest. Instinctively, my eyes shifted to look into the treetops when I was slashed across the face, as if by the arm of a cactus.

I clutched my face in my hand, and from behind my burning eyeballs, I hardly noticed the spiked berry that fell from the tree and rolled to stop at my feet.

"Ow! Ugh!" I grumbled, trying to feel for cuts on my skin. As I stepped forward, I picked up the small berry for me to see. It was blood red, barbed with spikes and sporting tattered green leaves that stuck up from the center. I laughed once I identified it.

A Tamato berry! I always had to have those berries imported, brought to my parent's doorstep and then picked up by my Tropius. Those memories were fresh and new, well, at least they should be. I couldn't help but feel distanced from them, refusing to give up enjoying the Sevii Islands. So I slipped the berry carelessly into my pack and kept going.

It was dusk now, violet streaming through the syrup colored sky and casting colorless shadows into the forest over my head. Every tree trunk and leaf was black in the evening.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling in my pocket. I pulled out my Pokenav where my screen was flashing. One name was typed in computer-like scrawl at the bottom: Steven.

I hit receive and his face, pale and distinct against the darkening background became clear on the display. His eyes were coal grey and, to my embarrassment, unmistakably pissed.

"It's been hours already. You know I can't see you on this Hoenn map. Are you trying to drive me crazy or something?" He ranted, and with every complaint I giggled a little bit more.

I hadn't noticed how far into thoughtlessness I'd wandered until his voice blared over the Nav, muffled by the poor reception.

"May, please! Are you listening?"

That woke me up. I blinked twice, uncoiling from my crouch on the forest floor.

"Not really." I grinned sleepily at him, stretching out my arms, feeling the dusk cleanse my mind and erase the time I'd spent lingering. I put some thought into my reply. "We're you saying something I should know, Steven?"

His mouth opened instantly, more than eager to answer, but then he closed it to reprocess my question. He looked back at me with a more relaxed look this time, smiling faintly.

"No, I guess not, if you put it that way. Are you far from the camp?"

I began. "Yeah-"

The Nav fell amongst the leaves in the forest floor, noiseless and abandoned. Somewhere in the blackness of my consciousness I realized I had dropped it. There had been a crack, it was faint, but the break of a twig was clear. Somewhere among the trees, a shadow darted away from my gaze in surprise.

On the ground Steven's voice tried to stab through my wall of terror, but I was struggling too hard and too violently to hear more of the shadow, readying myself to run.

My blood froze in my veins, like a constrictor was snaking along my neck and slyly teasing me, ready to snap my neck in any breathing second. A black gloved hand was creeping up my face, the textured palm scratching my skin, alert and crawling.

I felt his form behind me shift; maybe with laughter, maybe with anger- and he dragged me behind a tree. Still, I couldn't see his face.

All I could think to do was stand there and wait to be released. One too many moments I had felt a hard edge rustle behind me. I swallowed hard to consider that the object could be a knife, with a blade that put the glistening ocean surface to shame. Maybe even a gun. Still, there was the position I was in. If I could just lean down further, maybe I could flip him…

All of a sudden, there was an awful jab that shocked every nerve in my body, like the way the moon scent electricity into my veins. But instead, it was hard, merciless volts. I immediately yelped out, but his hand was tighter than ever on my mouth. Coiling in pain, I decided enough was enough.

With my mind screaming with defiance, I wheeled around and wedged my knee between me and the stomach of the stranger. Satisfaction. He staggered back, and I immediately grabbed hold of his shirt and used all of my weight to shove forward, knocking him onto the ground. I was back on top of him, panting with fury, holding him down.

The only glimpse of him I got was the flash of flame red hair, and then he vanished- a ghost lost in the rows of black trunks.

I could only stare on, clutching the air where I'd been so sure of his presence, and now here I was, holding nothing. I could tell which direction he'd gone in- the leaves were strewn apart in a footprint dappled path right in front of me. It was obvious- he'd simply fled. For whatever reason, he didn't want me to figure out who he was.

I threw up my hands, eagerly heading back to the camp with an anxious bounce in my step. I was in no investigating mood, so I left the stranger to his business.

…...

Still, even as I enjoyed some stargazing up on the densely wooded plateau Steven and I had made our campsite, thoughts of the stranger still crept back into my head. I had always been drawn in by mystery, but never so much that I forgot about any goal I had at the time. But here I had nothing much to expect, it was all so new and vast.

Somehow Steven sensed my aloofness, and turned his head toward me. "What happened earlier? When you dropped your Nav?" his eyes narrowed in confusion.

My heart fell into my stomach, and in that second I didn't know whether to lie or to tell the truth. So I did both. "I just got a little surprised. The forest can be sort of scary, sometimes,"

"Understood, I suppose." Then he added in a thoughtful tone, "You never really know what's out there,"

A shudder rippled my body in the raw night air, involuntary. But I knew he didn't know what had happened in the lower woods that evening. I found some comfort there. I leaned back to gaze into the ivory circle of the moon, low and glistening, in the lit black silk of night and stars.

"Yup," I whispered. "You never really know,"


	2. Welcome to the Basin

**Author's Note: **Like I mentioned in the first chapter, I strongly advise readers to check out Steel Water (Story 1) for reference and just ease in understanding what's going on. The link's on my profile. Thanks!

….

Later the next evening, I took over watching the camp, and Steven went off by the coast to do some rock hunting. We agreed to meet up at midnight. Already, the stars had begun to poke out of the black sky to give me an idea of what time it was- the time zones were different from Hoenn to Kanto, and I had to rely on sky signals to give me a good idea of the time. Now, it was about 9…

I readjusted myself to lay on my back in the grass, not tired- not excited.

The entire island was shaped as ovular woodland, and the only space without any sort of trees or plantlife was the white sand coast, which, unfortunately was only a quarter mile off of the edge of the town. Six Island, I think.

Somewhere in the backwoods, I heard a thud rise from the cries of the native bug pokémon. Then, a haunted silence.

Before I could process the way my body stiffened and my mind went into disarray, I saw the ghost of red hair flash beneath my eyelids, disappear from my grasp, leaving me alone.

The sound echoed again. The same resolute banging came from deep in the forests of Fortune Island- whether in my imagination or in reality, I couldn't tell, but it was silent for another moment.

Another thud- louder this time, provoking my stupid, overactive imagination.

The ghostlike stranger, stalking me in the woods. I bit down hard on my lip to fight the tremors. I tried to comfort myself, to no success.

I whispered, "Don't be stupid… nobody's-"

It was louder now, forming into a double stepping pattern, like monstrous footsteps.

Behind it, I detected some faint whooshing sounds, like the wings of a Beautifly grazing by your ear. But all the way back into the forest? It would have to be a powerfully winged pokémon, like a Fearow, or maybe something even bigger. Wild Tropius loved islands like these, and were deathly territorial…

I curled into a ball in the middle of the clearing, palms pressed to my ears, waiting out the sounds as they slipped more and more fiercely through my comfort zone. I considered the real possibilities for a moment; no comfort there. No matter what explanation I came up with, anything realistic was more terrifying than whatever I'd thought up before. But if it was just a person, maybe I could reason with them. Get them to leave me alone, if their intentions were to disturb me. Finally, I pushed past the trembles and sat straight up to stare into the campfire.

The crackling wisps of fire snatched up my voice and drew it up into the sky.

"Who's there?"

There was no voice to answer me, just the loudening sound of the footsteps gaining closer and closer to the skirts of the campsite. I tried again, this time with a stronger voice. "Come out, now! Who are you?"

The thuds stopped. In the thinning evening air, I shuddered. Warm air was suddenly flooding into the campsite behind me, heating up my back and neck. There was no human in the camp with me.

My body shook as if my core had turned to ice; fumes of mysterious heat curled and warmed my spine, countering my frozen nerves. Slowly, I turned around in the grass, preparing for whatever had invaded the campsite.

I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow, ignoring the way the bird pokémon fled from the treetops at the earsplitting sound. I scrambled to my feet to get away, but the dragon-like pokémon caught me between its claws with one swipe of its arm.

I knew exactly what it was. The bright orange fire breathing dragon was easily 3 times my size, with flag-sized wings darkened by the pale moonlight flooding the campsite, dying his body a shadowy maroon. On the very tip of his tail, a raging flame rose. That tail had been mere inches from my back. That was where the sudden heat had come from.

The Charizard glared at me with sharpness in his black eyes, the silhouette of his tail flame etched into the dark pupil. His snout swept to his side suddenly, pointing towards the edge of the campsite. There, another pokémon waited.

This one was massive as well, maybe even bigger than the Charizard- at least so it looked in the murkiness of the island night. As it stepped forward with deliberate slowness and its feet fell into the moonlight, the terrifying thud I'd heard in the woods echoed into the campsite.

Perfect. A Feraligatr. I could see it in the tremendous jaw and the heavyset legs and feet… in the clear blue body that remained shadowless even under night's black veil. Behind him, there was no trainer, but something about these pokémon told me that they were far from wild. The intelligence in their eyes warned me that somebody was controlling them.

As I scrutinized them, the Charizard grimaced at the Feraligatr, receiving a defiant grin from the water pokémon. A small flicker of red swept from the fire dragon's throat as his ears sunk unhappily, and his jaws flew out and caught me by the arm. His teeth sunk into my flesh, searing straight through the skin.

I smashed my fists hard into his snout. "Hey! Let go, you giant bastard!"

He completely ignored me, tossing me through the air into the arms of the Feraligatr.

"Let go! Help! HELP!" I roared, kicking hard into the beast's side. "Steven!"

I knew it was helpless, and that Steven was far away from the camp by the Southern shore. Any hope of being rescued vanished from my mind as the two pokémon brought me further into the depths of the forest, down the exact path I'd taken only the night before.

…

The walk was endless, rough and uncomfortable. The Feraligatr had perched (more accurately, tossed) me horizontally on his back between his spinal plates and crown plates. I had to admit, I would have much rather taken a ride on Charizard. That probably would have been quicker, but for whatever reason, they wanted to be as hidden as possible, hiding in the shadows and staying only in the thickest of the wooded areas. Everywhere the water pokémon stepped, he left a dense footprint that the Charizard would sweep over with his tail, being careful not to set the underbrush aflame.

After I'd given up trying to fight them off, I instead proved to be the most annoying passenger imaginable.

Singing, "LA LA LAAAAA, LA LA LAAAAA, MONKEY SEEE MONKEY DOO…" Over and over was one of the many things that I did. I flailed around, "accidentally" poke the Feraligatr in the eye- hell, I even managed to give him a good hard kick in the spines once or twice.

The forest began to thin as my captors walked on, the crinkling of twigs and leaves becoming lesser as forest floor became grass. The Charizard stepped ahead of us now, leading the way in with his fiery tail's light. The moonlight had become as bright as genuine sun now that we had entered a clearing. The exact same one where I'd encountered the ghostlike stranger.

The Feraligatr suddenly dumped me onto the ground, walking away from my crumpled form to stand across from me on the other side of the clearing. The Charizard took a place on the outskirts of the clearing.

I picked myself up onto my feet, too dazed to care whether I would be knocked down again or not.

Suddenly, the crisp blue moonlight seemed to shift, to reveal that we were not alone. A white light fell onto a human body, and he stepped forward, away from the pokémon.

His flame red hair that had grown so long that the ends grazed his shoulders, curling and falling around his face. He was around my age, only an inch or so taller than my 5'5. In the moons glow I could see that he wore a black jacket lined in maroon, matching his shoes of the same pattern. He glared hard at me, scrutinizing my face with a blank, unsmiling expression.

I staggered away from the pale gray glint in his eyes, searching for a purpose in his approach. Then I felt the anger, my fists clenching instinctively.

He rubbed his side awkwardly. "You're quite the fighter, aren't you?" he said, his voice somewhere between dark and fascinated. "Sorry Blue and I had to drag you in this way. My name is Silver,"

…..

"Silver, is it?" I stuttered, forgetting composure. "What exactly am I here for? And who the hell is Blue? Is that your Feraligatr?"

"No. It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way." He grabbed my wrist, frowning more at how I yanked it away with my fist coiled hard.

I gritted my teeth, ignoring Silver's widening eyes. "Why not now?"

"Hey! You two! Hold it right there!"

We both froze.

Circles of pale yellow light- flashlight-made- suddenly dappled the tree trunks around us, flooding the clearing with light, and I decided that now was not the best time. I scrambled out of the clearing, Silver close behind.

"Dammit, they're after me again," he growled.

"You?" I muttered incredulously as we fled. "Oh. I was sure they were after me,"

I spent a few seconds blinking, wondering. It really was ironic… "What did you do?"

His expression was still unfazed, even while sprinting at full speed. "The Feraligatr that brought you to me? I stole him from a lab a while ago, and then that moron Gold came after me,"

"Gold?" I scoffed. "Who _named_ you people?"

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out to interrupt me, leaving a hard dent in a tree that whizzed by my head as I ran. _Inches_ by my head. Crap, crap, crap! How the hell was I going to get back to camp?

"Duck," Silver instructed.

Instead of defying him as I would have any other time, I ducked my head and slid beneath a hanging of underbrush. Suddenly, I was airborne.

I let out a strangled scream, clenching at the air as I dropped down the stone wall. It was like a perfectly directed nightmare- falling from gunfire into pure nothingness. I hadn't realized I was still screeching until I crashed onto the ground at the bottom of the rock sided basin. My head landed into a bush- lucky for me- but the rest of my body tumbled off upon touchdown and slammed into the rocky floor below.

Aches rose from every inch of me, stabbing pains from my knees the worst of them.

From where I lay, I saw Silver's black shoes touch perfectly onto the ground. He'd somehow slid down the wall as if he was simply skateboarding down a ramp. He offered me his hand, mockery in his solemn pale gray eyes.

I countered him a finely crafted string of swears before I got to my feet and stood up tall, and then grimaced. His eyes nearly cleared the top of my head. So he was taller.

Struggling with my dignity, I walked alongside him into the center of the enormous clearing, where the moonlight flooded from between the black tree trunks. Into a campsite.

I recognized this place instantly. We were literally in a basin, where warm air became trapped and gave the entire area a tasty air that I couldn't help but sigh in. The same steamy mist that Steven and I had indulged in just last night.

This was the mysterious campsite he'd told me about. And Silver was the mysterious stranger.

…

"So let me get this straight," I repositioned myself to face him. "-You brought me here to warn me that the police radar-ed onto my campsite?"

Silver nodded once. "You really ought to move to a place further in. I was going to get your brother, too, but he never stays in the same place. I guess you'll have to catch up with him yourself,"

I smiled when mention of Steven sent his dark eyes flashing in the back of my mind.

"Ha ha… actually he's my boyfriend, but the whole wandering thing is just part of his whole quest for identity. He wouldn't be Steven if he wasn't a wanderer,"

I guess I'd forgotten that Silver was listening, because when I looked at him, his eyebrows were knitted. "Your boyfriend? He looked about-"

I sighed. "23? Yeah. Long story,"

"Mhm,"

I was a little surprised at that. "…Don't you want to know what I'm talking about?"

Silver eyed me coolly. "I already do. You guys hung outside of my camp a few days ago." He reached a hand into his back pocket. "You dropped this,"

When he pulled out his hand, in it was a crushed scrap of paper that must have been stomped well into the dirt. He unraveled it.

"The newspaper?" I whispered.

He nodded. "I read about you guys, you and the son of Devon Corps' CEO. You're in it pretty deep,"

I laughed, agreeing with that. For a shifty eyed little stalker, Silver was surprisingly easy to talk to. I frowned into the night sky for a moment; I'd already found the stranger. I needed a new adventure.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that Hell is interregional. They're still looking for me, trying to drag me back to Hoenn," Then a question arose. "You ever met the interviewers Gabby and Ty, Silver?"

He shook his head no.

"Consider yourself a lucky guy. They're annoying as hell and will do anything for a paycheck. It's disgusting," I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to project the danger of what I meant.

"I don't even read the newspaper. It's full of shit. You should see how bad they're looking for _me_,"

"Oh yeah. You said that you stole your Feraligatr from a lab, right?" I blankly looked over at the giant water pokémon, who was fixing a wooden stake through a shimmering gold-threaded tent. I looked back at Silver, who was laid out on his back in the grass, his eyes closed.

"But hey- how did you get all this stuff if you're wanted by the government?"

Silver's sly eyes slid toward me, a small smile on his face, and then he looked away. I laughed, wide-eyed.

"Don't tell me you stole all this stuff? Silver!"

His face hardened. "I don't have any other option. Besides, none of them needed any of it. Consider it "lightening an unnecessary load","

He stared up into the sky for a minute, and I wistfully did the same, despite wanting to argue. This night sky was so different from the one from the camp, or from Route 115 back in Hoenn. It faintly occurred to me again that we were sitting in a bowl in the island, where the stars above were set in jet black satin and suspended over the basin like a tablecloth. Everything nestled in the basin was glazed with moisture, the warm air leaving my skin hot and clammy. I sucked in a slow breath of air. It tasted like smoking firewood… strangely sultry.

"Enjoying yourself?"

I sat straight up, blinking. "Huh?"

"You looked like you were about to fall face first into my campfire. Haven't you been on the island a while? You're not used to it?"

I recounted the days in the back of my head. It had been about two weeks since we'd touched down in Fortune Island. Two weeks of silent living on an island should have been more enchanting. More like this.

I wasn't about to tell him that, though.

"Well, our camp is, of course, at ground level, surrounded by the woods. It makes for a great stargazing plateau kind-of-thing, but the air is dry. All the ocean air gets trapped down here, so I guess I'm just enjoying the change of pace,"

I hadn't realized that Silver was on his feet now, a leather bag slung over his shoulder.

"Where are we going now?" I whined.

"Shut up. You wanted to know who Blue was, didn't you?"

The name sparked a memory in my head- when we were up at the clearing on the island's ground level. When the townspeople briefly caught us…

I bit my lip. "Yeah,"

He didn't say another word to me; we walked silently to the edge of the camp, where the sharp eyed Charizard was waiting.


	3. The Eyes of North Beach

**Author's Note: **I know that there is a lot of confusion and debate over the names of the characters "Blue" and "Green" in both the games and the Adventures manga. Just so you guys know, I am referring to Blue as the **guy** that resembles Gary Oak and Green as the **girl**. Green isn't in this fic, but still, just felt I needed to clarify. Alright, enjoy!

…

The backwoods were grime-laden, smelly and claustrophobic.

Gee, thanks Silver. I lamented at the disenchantment I was suffering- it felt like drowning. Maybe it was because I was being choked of the stars and the raw night air that drew me in at night. Nevertheless, the mist of the basin was becoming too thick now- no longer sultry wisps of tropic air; it was smoke. Smoke that smelled like hot wet grease.

Up above our heads, speeding through the thinner, sweeter night air was that deft-eyed Charizard, the flame on his tail trailing a line of brilliant red through the velvet sky where he flew. It was all of him I could see- the rest of his body was shrouded in the rising nighttime mist.

As we travelled, the topic of pokémon came up. Silver was a good trainer, apparently- all of his pokémon I recognized the name and appearance of, and I can tell you, they were almost all tremendous. Along with the Feraligatr I'd met, he had on hand a _red Gyarados_ and a _Rhyperior_… the smaller ones were a Weavile, a Kingdra and a Honchcrow, but still- those pokémon would never be described as miniature. All of them were at some level around the mid-forties. My party was at the exact same point.

Same with Steven, but I'd seen his team take out level 80's before.

In minutes.

In order to counter, I happily bragged about the travel sized power of my party, including Swampert's staggering Sp. Attack level of 155 and Tropia's learning of the infamous move Aeroblast and miniscule faint record. I made sure to mention that I had never lost a fair battle. Well, except on one occasion that he was already aware of.

"We really ought to have a battle," I let the sly smile creep over my face when I saw his solemn eyes flash at the suggestion.

He grinned. "Like you'd stand a chance."

"Psh! Excuse me, mister, but I'll remind you that I am currently one battle away from being the Champion of Hoenn,"

"Interesting. Maybe your Elite Four were having a slow day,"

"What was that?"

"You heard me,"

"Alright, Silver," I growled, formulating a one-hit KO strategy in my head. "Let's battle. As soon as I find my team on this damned island,"

The walk was surprisingly brief. We arrived out the back of a muddy tunnel in all of 10 minutes. I estimated that it was 11 o'clock; my body wasn't anywhere near tired, just silently aching for Steven again. This far up the island, it would be at least 1 before I could reach the south beach. By then he would be livid. Fabulous, I groaned.

"So at least give me a brief summary of who the hell this 'Blue' person is?"

Silver pondered for a second, clenching his fingers hard on his flashlight. That set me off well enough. "-and you better not think about whacking me with that thing. I kicked your ass once and I can do it again," My smile went smug the way his eyes flashed upon recovering that memory. His face flushed faint red in the shadow of the backwoods, and then he answered.

"Well, he's a… he,"

I let my face sag in annoyance. "_Thanks_. Any other info?" then I giggled, "Does he have some sort of a skin condition?"

In my wandering head, the image of an alien-looking man with green hair and bright blue reptilian skin came up. I wrenched my eyes from the mushy, disgusting swamp I was trekking through to look over at Silver. Something in his faint smile told me he realized my presumption.

"Nope. You'll have to meet him yourself- how old are you, exactly?"

I let a twinge of my disillusioned bitterness seep into my answer. "Fifteen,"

His face instantly fell, his shadowy gray eyes slowly scanning me up and down. I blushed beneath his gaze.

"Oh. I was sure you were older," Then his voice became hushed. "Would he…?"

"What was that?"

He dismissed the topic. "Forget it."

I hated it when people just dropped things like that, so I prompted more conversation as the air became clearer and lighter.

"How old are _you_?"

"Sixteen," He said, honing a signature, indecipherable look in those gray eyes of his, too deep to be nonchalant yet too smooth to be curious.

He seemed honest enough, though, carelessly answering as he leapt over a broken tree trunk. I couldn't help but ogle him- red hair was pretty darn uncommon in Hoenn, as well as everywhere else I've ever been. Blankly I wondered whether he had a girlfriend. No! Not what you're thinking! I could never betray Steven like that. As a matter of fact, I ought to stop thinking about it before I get carried away…

That was the last I thought of Steven before I met Blue.

…..

Suddenly, the choking fumes of rotten plant cleared away. We plowed further and further through the marsh that made up northern Fortune Island, where the land cleared out and revealed a sparkling beach no different than the southern beach. I would just get this over with.

"Watch your step. Come up this way," Silver ordered in his dark voice. I complied with a frown on my face- being ordered around was not something I enjoyed.

In front of us, a field of enormous obsidian rocks like the ones on Mossdeep spread out. Every single one was the last wall between us and the island's northern coast.

I lifted my foot up onto a rock jetty and clambered around another. He leapt over each one, going at a swifter speed, leading me toward the shore.

Finally, I touched my feet into the dirty white sand. The moon was on the southern side of the island tonight; the stars were the only things lit in the lonely sky. Casting a soft red glow over the black rocks and pale yellow beach was a hung torchlight, held high above the ground on an iron pole. I shifted my vision toward the water. It was bizarrely flat, noisily lapping at the beach and then falling back further into the ocean. In the far distance, small red flames lit the blackness- one modest flickering to the left, one to the right. The neighboring island cities, I guessed.

"Glad to see you could make it,"

The male's voice scared me; I jumped up like someone had set fire to me, only to nervously laugh at myself within a moment's passing. Suddenly, the fiery stream of red slashed across the sky just above my head and touched down on the ground with a single wing beat. The Charizard stood before a shadowy human, his tail's light flickering with excitement. The person sauntered from behind the pokémon, to let the crimson shadow fall onto his features.

I felt my face go hot as I staggered away. His eyes were best compared to the contours of a deciduous forest, melted down and twisted into his irises. Moss green and every bit as sharp looking as his Charizard- at least so it looked in the torchlight. The messy folds of his hair spiked from the back of his head until it finally fell gently astray of his eyes, the exact same ash brown hue as mine. He was a good deal taller than I was, I could tell as he came closer to stand only a few feet from me. I saw the light shift to fall onto his black shirt and shadowy violet pants, and I knew I had just stepped into a void of danger. I couldn't back away.

I scratched my head awkwardly before I looked up and answered. "Uh, nice to meet you. I guess you're Blue,"

He nodded. "And your name is…?"

"May Birch," Then I blushed to admit it- his gaze was just too interested. "Hoenn exile,"

And then I was furious with myself. I was out here, half an hour away from worrying Steven to death, and I was fawning over a damned stranger. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Dangerously stupid.

"Silver told me that you were hanging around the south beach, close by the town. They've got that whole area on surveillance, so we tried to tell you as soon as possible." Then he grinned. "Silver also told me that you were quite unwilling to come easy, and that he had the bruises to prove it. Charizard wasn't too rough with you, was he…?"

"Well… he was better than Feraligatr, actually. That reminds me-" I turned to look at Silver, and then felt a slight shock. He was staring solemnly across the ocean, admiring the fire on the waves. In the grip of nostalgia, my mouth floundered a few times before I spat it out. "-he's not going to like me much. I was quite the rude passenger while he was bringing me to you,"

Silver smiled lightly. "I know. He already informed me,"

Blue looked down at me. "Are we forgiven?"

"Yeah, sure. You were just trying to help," I said with a shrug, swallowing my nervousness. "-Actually, Silver and I were going to have a battle, as soon as I gather up my team. I hope you weren't opting to choose sides. I prefer spectators to double battles,"

"Oh yeah! I heard you're a great trainer. Undefeated, right?"

That pleased me, to hear that someone didn't hear my name and frown upon me. "You'd better believe it- except, well once…"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I heard about that, too. But who cares? I know this new colosseum in a city close by Kanto's coast,"

I was briefly caught off guard, and I cocked my head a bit to the right. Right now, we were the farthest away from Kanto's coast as possible without being in Steven's hometown of Mossdeep. I backed away, readying my legs to dash into the woods.

His eyes peered deeply into mine, seeing my panic. "Don't worry. I'll have my Charizard come back for your pokémon,"

"All the way there? But isn't that hours awa-" I blurted, trying to explain myself.

He took my wrist- gently- and pointed toward the hulking fire-flying hybrid that was lounging under the torch and melting the black rocks with his scalding hot breath, his orange snout curled over his teeth in a grin-like fashion.

"Hours? How about a few minutes?"

Suddenly Silver spoke from his spot by the water. "May, how are you at riding to a Charizard's Extreme Speed?"

…..

For the first time since I was 12, I was truly, utterly horrorstruck. Nothing could describe the invisible fist that seemed to rise from the black waves and attempt to tear me off of that Pokémon's back, over and over as he raged through the sky. Slaps of splitting wind tore past my face and dried my eyes to stain my cheeks. Feeling my stomach lurch, I screamed out to Blue, who was perched calmly on Charizard's lower neck further up.

_"How fast are we going?" _

"Not entirely sure- I've never clocked him, but I'm guessing we're doing a good 240 miles now,"

My desperation to get away from the wind left me in a calculating depth of mind. If the coast was about 40 miles off the coast, and we were doing 240 per hour, we should arrive there…

Now.

Answering my thoughts, a hard lurching threw me back against Charizard's spine, my head banging with a painful thud onto the blunt top of his tailbone. His feet touched down on ground and sunk into the earth, as if to get the full effect of landing or to minimize the speeding impact of his flight.

"Oww…"

Instantly, Blue was next to me, helping me off of his back. My legs buckled upon feeling the ground, and my body turned to jelly. I leaned against Charizard for leverage.

"Hey, you alright? Too fast?" The last word sounded like laughter, but I couldn't tell. Everything was… spinning… ugh…

I shook my head from left to right to dislodge the dizziness and then stood up to look him in the eye.

"I'm fine," I lied. But then something peculiar happened. As soon as my eyes focused on his, the sweet green sliced through the nausea immediately- so quickly and staggeringly that I backed into Charizard's flank.

We both stood like that for a moment.

Suddenly there was the sound of water being poured onto dry ground, and Feraligatr emerged from the water, Silver perched on his back; their travel had taken only seconds more than ours.

I couldn't hide my astonishment. "Silver, how fast is your Feraligatr? I thought I was going to puke on this guy over here!" I jarred my thumb at Charizard, who responded with a smug throaty chortle.

All of a sudden, the purpose for which I'd come here began to flow back into my awareness. "So how about that colosseum? Is Charizard ready to head back yet?"

Blue seemed to have forgotten. "Oh yeah, that- the colosseum is further up. I promise to take you there and send Charizard, but first, I figured you should have a little fun. This is the _coast_, baby!"

That was when all of a sudden, brilliantly colored lights came blasting down onto the beach, tinting the white sand every color under the sun- blue, crimson, jade, silver- every color but white.

And as if by magic, we were no longer alone.

…..

The lights, the music, the ecstasy in the partying civilians' cheers. It was all too obvious.

"You brought me to… a party?" I wanted so much to be enraged, to infuse my shock into every word of that sentence, but the lights, the wild, thudding music drowned out my hatred. The way the lights drew over the sand and lit the water to arrive at a still point in the black, living sky. The stars were gone, and the moon was nowhere to be seen, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to care. It was amazing.

"I sure did," He grinned back at me. "A huge multiplex- colosseum included- just opened up in Saffron City. They threw this coast party in celebration, so Silver and I decided to do you a favor and take you off the island for a bit. What do you think?"

I laughed, not needing to put in any effort to project over the throbbing electro music. "I think I'm in love! Thank you!" I hugged him, throwing all the power of my sudden high into it.

At this point, Silver- _Silver_, of all people- was hanging along the fringe of the dancing partygoers, calmly chatting up a wide-eyed blonde girl with a can of soda in his hand. By the way the lucky girl was staring fervently back at him, I knew that if Silver didn't have a girlfriend already, he was going to in a minute.

Suddenly, the blaring music fell, and above my head a voice came over the intercom.

"Time for the countdown!" I didn't bother looking to Blue for an explanation, I just happily squirmed at his side to stare up into the sky where the lights were now dimmed and pointed.

"Five! Four!" The crowd cleared a tremendous circle on the beach, raising their hands to the sky, some fingers clasping cans of soda, others twisted into peace signs.

"Three! Two!" The awed smile grew on my face as I threw up my hand to cheer, and then they all roared:

"ONE!"

There was a brief whistling, and then the floodlights were gone, replaced with the heart stopping display of fireworks collaborating in the black sky. Electric blue twisted left, striking lime danced right, and a flawless explosion of flame red opened up between them, rattling the invisible stars themselves.

Me and Silver exchanged thrilled glances from across the circle, and then allowed our eyes to naturally glide back skywards. The crowd roared.

Nothing more amazing.


	4. Ecstasy and the City

**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry this took so long! It was oddly difficult for me to write, and I got sidetracked. I might be doing a ColosseumShipping fic at some point, if I can scrape up a plot. By the way, this chapter includes one of the closest things to sex I will write. _One_ of the closest things. Be forewarned!

Anyway, here goes:

…..

Every wisp of human breath besides mine, Silver's, and Blue's had long left the beach by 4 o'clock. The nostalgic throbs of the rave music had died down to nothing, freshly littered soda cans spilled over and soaked in to the sand with the melody gone from them, too. The lights were still going, flowing to their lonesome without the music and people to mix with. They crossed over my skin in blue and green patterns absently, as if saying, "Remember when we brought you to life?".

Further down the beach was Silver, sitting cross legged by the shore and staring out over the waves. They seemed to run deeper now, seething instead of flowing. I strolled over to the beach, still light in the head, and dropped into the sand next to him with a small sigh.

I ran my fingers through my hair before I turned to meet Silver's peaceful gaze. "Thanks so much for this- I owe you one,"

Without a word, he snatched up a loose rock and thrust it into the sea overhand. We watched it skip over the waves and glitter in the striking starlight, only to vanish into the black vat of water. For a moment, silence crept over us as silvery moonlight rippled over the black waves above where the stone had sank.

"You're welcome, I guess- but it's too late to go to the next city." He frowned. "They locks the passage kiosks after 3,"

Suddenly, Blue appeared between us with a peculiar smile on his face, one elbow on Silver's shoulder and one arm around me. Then he said something that flung ice water onto my mind.

"You guys will just have to go at each other's throats tomorrow night,"

"Tomorrow night?" Would Steven let me out of the campsite without an argument after this? Between training sessions and firewood chopping, we'd been having an awful lot of screaming matches lately. Then a few days of silence…

"I meant to ask you, May…" Blue began, ignoring the way my mouth fell open and how my eyes darted around his face. "Why don't you stay with us for a few days? Here in Kanto?"

The 'NOs' pounded in my throat, but my throat flexed closed over the word. How was I going to leave Steven alone on the island, not knowing where the hell I was? I closed my eyes, seeing his faintly smiling image, burning my eyelids.

But still…

_Couldn't_ I…?

My hand moved to the bag at my side for my Pokenav, but all I felt on the tips of my fingers were berries, some bottles of shampoo I'd stolen and lingering coin dollars. Of course. Back in the campsite when I'd been kidnapped, one of the objects I failed to grab was my nav. I could use a public phone, but the systems in Kanto worked as if an automatic phonebook was held in the core- only numbers of Kanto's residents could be used, and any generic ones could be traced back by the police. I couldn't contact Steven until I got my butt back to the island. Not unless I wanted to risk both of us being sent to jail.

Blue's soft green gaze seemed prodding in the silence. He shifted an inch closer. "What do you say?"

In that moment, I didn't know whether I was too thankful, too selfish or just too stupid, but I looked him in the eye, gulped, and defied all odds.

"Sure, where are we staying?"

The backs of his leaf-colored eyes lit with satisfaction. "I know a hotel right here in Vermilion, converted from the Fan Club a few years ago. We can stay there until tomorrow and then head for Saffron City in the morning,"

I heard Silver chuckle.

"Or noon," he said. "It's 4 AM, guys. Our pokémon need some rest, too,"

I nodded, and within moments of heading off away from the coast, I had moved comfortably ahead of Blue's relaxed walk.

Silver, standing before the flat black waves, took a long look at his own stolen Johto edition Pokegear before coming along with us. Open orange city began to sprawl out beneath the now starlit horizon and glowed under its drape. Behind the main rows of stores and houses stood a taller, crisp white one, lined with wide windows, ten on each side, and soft yellow light poured from a few of them. Obviously, that was the hotel. I stepped down the road toward the pearly building. My footsteps held a weird musical rhythm to them while they stepped over the cobblestone road, kind of like knuckles pounding together. Flowing over the sandy beach, Silver and Blue's steps were faint and smooth. Like gliding. The smell of ocean and ecstasy faded off into faint harbor city air.

I kept up my pace with unbelievable willpower, feeling bizarrely thrilled, as if the night's party was living on inside my heart. I guess the fact was that there wasn't an established "wrong" or "right" in this situation. I guess I would have to find out what option was better was on my own, just like I used to as a greenhorn trainer back in Hoenn. Whether or not this change of pace was refreshing to me was still hidden, for now.

.…...

A pair of distant, hateful dark eyes slid through the back of my mind, blankly and insignificantly, and then disappeared.

…

I came to a stop at the front doors of the hotel. The sparkling glass stretched out all the way across the face of the building, gold edging the doorframe, pokeballs crafted out of the same metal as the doors' handles. I inhaled a deep breath, opened the doors, and took a step into the room.

Whoa.

It was like a ballroom- glowing marble tiles on the floor and cream painted walls; the warmth of the color brought the taste of vanilla to my tongue and melted away my unease. I felt my heart finally start to liquefy inside my chest as my breaths came easier. Placed by each towering window were these beautiful loveseats, clad in espresso tinted leather. And all these rugs! An oriental by the decorative fireplace, a firm-bristled, café colored mat by the front desk with the single word VERMILION scrawled over it.

Blue was behind me. I could sense it somehow.

I turned halfway, eyebrows raised, and sure enough, he was there. We stood there in each others' gravity for less than a heartbeat before the hotel's glass doors swung open with Silver's rough shove. He stopped before ramming into Blue, one arm outstretched with his fingers closed over something in his palm.

"Here. It's all I've got on me," he said with a shrug.

I grappled for the spare change in my pocket and dropped a fistful of coin dollars into Blue's hand, smiling faintly. "That's 500, if it helps,"

Blue looked down at me with an incredulous look on his face. I challenged him to explain with a simple nod of my head.

"That's a first," he finally muttered.

"Hm?"

"You're a girl. And you paid for your share. That's never happened to me before,"

I grinned. I was untypical, and he liked it.

My eyes drew away from Blue's for a second to look toward the marble front desk. Silver was positioned in front of it, trying to get the middle aged woman's attention. She was too busy giggling over something on her desk to even hear Silver's low voice.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and snapped, "Hello?"

Papers flew all over the place from the woman's hands as she jerked her head up, a deer in the headlights. "Oh!"

I scampered over to help her pick up the stuff. "You need some help?" But then I froze. Would she recognize me? Would she see May the Cheater when her gaze fell upon me?

She adjusted her glasses to look into my face. Nothing shocked or angry about her expression- just that surprised, wide-eyed look I expected from her anyway. Her voice was quick and high pitched. "I'm fine- see, I've got them all-"

Then her eyes fell to Blue and Silver, standing before her at the counter, and her voice swelled in relief.

"Silver, dear! And Blue, Viridian's gym leader- you're both handsome as ever! How are you guys?"

Blue smiled. "Hey, Deb,"

I knew my eyes were boggling out by now, but I couldn't care less. "Blue, did she just say _gym leader_?"

Blue nodded with that weird predatory glint in his eye. Silver took advantage of the sudden silence, a bitter edge to his voice.

"-And first runner up," he added.

The woman smiled. On her nametag was "Debbie".

"Nice to see you guys again. And who is this?"

My panic choked me. It would be pretty stupid to tell her my real name, but what else could I come up with on the spot? Suddenly, Blue sensed my unease and put an arm around me.

"This is Sapphire. She's quite the trainer herself,"

"Undefeated," I laughed weakly, feeling like an asshole.

A twinkle fell upon Debbie's eye. "Nice to meet you, Miss Sapphire. We get a ton of travelling trainers coming here- "Then she seemed to retain her purpose. "So how many nights will it be?"

"Just tonight," Silver said.

The woman took the array of gold coins from Blue's hand and wheeled around in her chair. There was no cash register, but a slit in the desk's marble top, like a child entering money into a slot machine at a game corner. She typed something into her computer, and upon her finger hitting a last key, there was a ringing sound. When she opened her hand to us, in it were three passcards.

She smiled. "Room 403,"

…

After I took a few minutes to spend a portion of my money on shampoo at the corner store and had crammed it into my bag, we headed down the guest hall for the elevator. It was the first door to the right, colored cream like the rest of the winding hotel.

Once we were sealed completely into the elevator and I'd made sure that there were no hidden cameras, I snapped my head toward Blue.

"You know about my… secret?"

Blue nodded sullenly. "Silver showed me the newspaper,"

I grimaced. So much for a decent first impression.

We were far from silent as it brought us higher and higher. "I didn't know you were such a flirt, Silver. How many girls did you talk to again?" I prodded after a moment.

Silver looked away from us, but I could see the faint flush of red in his face. "Only about… five or so. Not that many,"

"Five!"

Blue and I nearly doubled over with laughter, his eyes wide and disbelieving. He ruffled Silver's hair up with one hand. "You little player," He joked.

The elevator came to a stop in a few seconds. The doors slid open to open into our hallway, same as the rest of the hotel.

In a minute, Blue was already at the foot of the door. He pulled his passcard from his back pocket and held it over a scanner on the door, code first. There was a beep, and the door clicked open.

The blackness of the room suddenly flooded white hall light, illuminating the caramel colored edges of a bed and narrow hallway. With one encouraging look from Blue, I flipped on the light switch, and the room came alive.

Behind me, observing my stupor, Blue leaned on the doorframe. "Welcome to home for the night,"

I took a few slow steps into the room, my eyes scanning it all over.

"Would you check this out," I muttered, mystified. The walls were wood paneled, a rich mahogany brown bringing out maple hints in the dark ivory carpet. Everything… the beds, the armchair in the corner… every accent in the room seemed as if it had been dipped in syrup and set aglow, a delectable gold.

Then I gulped, letting the sweet taste disappear down my throat. I looked closer, my eyes flickering back and forth. Two beds. Oh crap.

I knew what that meant in a heartbeat. Two of the three of us were sleeping in the same bed.

I threw them both a panicked look, backing away. "I'm not-"

Silver shrugged, his dormant expression grinning wider and wider. "I sleep kick. Like a pendulum. On drugs,"

I gave him my best Fuck You glare I could. He grinned wider. I could hear his thoughts, mocking me, saying _Have fun, May! _

"Blue, please say you have a reason to sleep on the floor,"

A daring flash of copper appeared in his eyes, and he laughed, "None whatsoever."

"I- I…!"

A Weavile- Silver's, apparently- planted its butt on the armchair and snarled once it met by pleading gaze. Silver grinned at me, kicked his shoes off onto the floor beside the window bed, unzipped his jacket and abandoned his shirt on the floor.

I was too pissed off to enjoy the view.

He ignored my glares and flopped onto his bed with a small, blissful smile on his face. Apparently a night's worth of partying had taken its toll on him. For a few moments, I glared with twitchy-eyed hatred.

Finally, I sighed in defeat: "I'm taking a shower,"

With that said, I flung open the bathroom door, uncaring as to how it crashed against the wall and made Silver jump up in terror, and slammed it shut behind me.

…

As I threw my clothes into the sink to wash later, rash excitement began to build inside of me like something of a lunar eclipse. Was I really here? I mean, I'd spent five years traveling, skipping from hotel to motel to campsite to city train, but nothing could beat this adventurous ecstasy.

Finally, I could get sense some of my old self. It was buried deep inside, but it was singing to me now.

All around the bathroom were these arrays of unused bottles and cans, some holding flower petals and others with toiletries. Simple things, things that I used to have to steal from the town back on the island. Toothpaste, lotion, scented oils. I was in heaven.

The shower itself took up most of the room, with the countertop running around the rest of it only to stop at the door. I lifted a foot to step inside and turned the water on hot.

Mm, how I missed indoor plumbing.

I loved how the sweet, invigorating droplets wicked away all the stress of the world and banished them from my sight into the drain. Best of all was the sweet scent of flowery oil on my skin, a luxury I hadn't brought over from the Hoenn escape and never stole. Instead, I took advantage of my knowledge of berries and flower blooms to mix together and create intoxicating scents. This one was the essence of girly warmth, smelling just like the berry grove I'd picked the blooms from.

I had forgotten how long I'd been in there before I nearly fell asleep. Crap.

Only after I'd brushed my teeth and ran a comb through my hair, deprived of a distraction, I realized something… it all seemed too unreal. A prick of hot, wet panic ran down my body at the thought of two almost-strangers sitting in the room beside this one. Feet away. It didn't help to dwell on the fact that I was literally about to get in a bed with one of them, or so be attacked by Silver's clawed Weavile.

I washed my clothes carefully, rubbing my fingers extra hard into the fabric beneath the warm water. As soon as I'd redressed, minus my headscarf and shoes, I reached for the bathroom's doorknob. Paralysis held me hard; sweat drops beaded on my forehead.

My hearts rapid throb told me exactly what my worries were. I was _really_ going to get in a bed with a stranger.

The floor was looking more and more tempting by the second. But still, it wasn't like it was just us. He wouldn't dare try anything with both Silver and his pokémon in the room- but then again I wasn't quite sure what this stranger with the forest in his gaze was capable of…

But I was well aware of what I was capable of. This was simply a challenge in which all I really had to do was try to sleep.

So I made up my mind. I sighed into the steamy room, and pushed open the bathroom door. Sweltering heat poured out of the open door and evaporated in the cool room air; the light was turned off, leaving the room completely dead black. My hand, held before my face, blended in as if I had become invisible. Crap. Did I mention I wasn't particularly graceful?

Stumbling barefoot over the carpet, all my outstretched fingers touched was thin, cool air. The soft white noise flowing from the air conditioner by the window wasn't quite calming me. Okay, so if it was on the other end of the room, beneath the window, then I should follow that sound. I just had to avoid that armchair with the grouchy Weavile, and I was gold. Sighing, I took another step forward.

"Lost?"

"Huh?" I jumped up and staggered away from the voice that split the darkness. A tiny light flickered on in the room, casting a circle of soft yellow light onto Blue's face.

"Oh- s-sorry, Blue…" I whispered, offering an embarrassed smile. "Did I wake you up?"

Chills radiated from my spine as I looked into Blue's calm eyes, and then glanced to the spot on the bed he'd left me.

"Nope. But Silver is knocked out,"

Beside me, Silver was sprawled over his bed, mouth hanging open like a fish. The sight made me chuckle to myself. My reminder of my newest challenge was right in front of me. A bed. With a stranger in it. Now all I had to do was get in it, close my eyes, and fall asleep. Easy. Easy…

Cold air, hypersensitive where the heat of the shower had just left, was still creeping up my body as I lowered myself into the bed beside Blue. I was conscious of his gaze on my skin the entire time. The mattress sank and conformed to me immediately; I released a heavy breath that I hadn't realized was trapped in my chest and chuckled once I'd completely gotten in.

"I did it,"

"Congrats, you're braver than I thought. I had a hunch with Silver that you'd chicken out and go for the floor. Either that or have a showdown with his Weavile,"

That caught me at full attention. I turned over on my side to give him my best disbelieving look I could. His posture was the same, facing me.

"If we're going to be friends, you need to know a few things; first, don't underestimate me,"

Suddenly, just as the white noise of the air conditioner fell to an invisible hum, he lowered his voice so that I could hardly hear. "Friends?"

Heat waves spread over every inch of me as I pondered, because some subconscious piece of my brain warned me; whether it was his carnal smile or wistful glance- he had other things in mind.

Once I'd gained enough control over my heartbeat and looked away, my hand flew for the lamp's switch. "I… um… think we ought to go to sleep now…"

"You're probably right," His expression relaxed a bit, but still looked nowhere near sleepy. That relieved me, somewhat. It seemed as if he couldn't tell that I could feel the tingling in my skin sinking into my bones and spurring my heart into overdrive.

What was wrong with me, honestly?

My fingers prodded along the cool metal shaft of the lamp, found the switch, and with a press had the light flicker off into nothing. And in a second, it was as if that faint electric current had sunken so far into my body that I could hardly breathe. I could hear everything, feel everything, and sense everything.

I lay on my side with my back to Blue holding my breath, wide-eyed. His breaths were even and mellow from beside me, but I knew he wasn't asleep, or even so much as close to it. He was gazing right into me. I could feel it.

Suddenly, heat to the same degree as the bathroom had been right after my shower began to rise up to my neck, electrifying the nerves, and then vanishing into the cool room air. Then again, and again… His breaths were faster now. The rumbling of the air conditioner picked up sound again. Panic crept into me as the heat became more and more focused, from waves of paralyzing heat to focused points. I recognized the sensation. Fingertips. They were drawing up and down my neck and crossed down near my collarbone.

Finally, I hissed out a sentence with as much fury as I could manage in my breathless voice. "What the hell are you doing?" My signature resilience was crumbling- I could feel it.

"Sorry. I couldn't help but notice something. You smell really good…"

Bad move on my part. The tiny vile of flowery aroma from the shower. I gulped down an "Oops," and held painfully still.

"I should stop…"

"Don't,"

This was the only moment in my entire journey that I'd felt truly on edge. It was hot- and cold at the same time, and I craved every bit of it.

Just as I was about to turn to face Blue on my side, the sound of a hand pounding wood filled the room.

Silver's fury, marred by grogginess, intertwined with the banging. "Hey! Will you two do it another time? I'm trying to sleep over here!"

Blue and I simply sat there, gaping. A moment later, Silver's snoring resumed.

"Heheh, he's right. Let's get some sleep,"

Heart still raging, I nodded. "Yeah. See you in the morning,"

"Goodnight…"

It took minutes for me to slip into exhaustion after a night as thrilling as this one… Before I fell asleep, a final question arose: Would I ever face Steven again?

I finally gave in to sleep before I could answer.

… … … … … … … … …

**Author's Note:** Hey! First time I'm writing an afternote in the midst of a story.

…What was I going to ask again? Oh yeah! I have a chapter with a scene much like the hotel one you just read, and I was wondering whether you guys (my beloved readers ;D) thought I should tone it down a bit for rating purposes. Thanks!


	5. Reminisce

**Author's Note:** I like adding in lines the characters said in games, the Adventures manga, and other places. If you're an avid pokémon fan and can pick out some of the hidden references, feel free to shout out in the reviews! I'll be posting all of the explanations after the last chapter is written. (Psst, there was a reference in the last chapter as well…)

Oh! I know you guys are missing our favorite gray haired Hoenn champ, but don't worry; we'll be hearing back from him soon.

Here goes:

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The sun sat inches above the horizon, white sunlight pouring over the room between the cracked curtains and falling onto my eyes. I sat up on my elbows and narrowed my eyes to peer into the white glow that lit half upper half of the room.

As I lifted myself further up out of the bed, something like a snare held me down. My gaze darted back to the bed, where Blue was still deep in sleep, sorrel brown hair splayed over the satiny fabric of the pillowcase. I took his wrist in my hand and let it slide onto his stomach, flinching at the low moan he responded with. The heat enveloping the room was much too intense for morning. From that arose a question…

Mid-stretch, I whispered, "What time is it?"

"A little after noon," I heard a wide-awake, soft voice say from behind me.

"Silver?"

He was strewn across the chocolate hued leather chair with an arm dangling over the side, Weavile sitting comfortably on his bare stomach. With eyes as illuminate as freshly shined dimes, the redhead waved once at my groggy self and smirked. "I woke up way before you,"

"G'morning, Silver. Or apparently, noon…" I stole a glance at the beam of sunlight that painted the walls.

My body gradually woke itself up and grew aware of tantalizing memories of last night. Electric charge still lingered beneath the skin, dying it with a pale red flush where the sun hit it. The curtains rustled soundlessly at the edges of the window pane, shuddering in the light breeze, letting the sun cross onto the caramel carpet in mesmerizing patterns. For a while I sat in the bed and stared. Weavile twitched from his spot on Silver with its tiny mouth curled into a soft smile, still lost in dreamland despite the daylight. I had heard once that Weavile and Sneasel were nocturnal, but of course, that was just a rumor…

Silver's gaze fell on me. "Well, we ought to get going. Wake up Blue, would you?"

Blue was lounging out on his side in a deep, silent slumber. His arm was still laid outstretched over where I'd been sleeping minutes ago.

I gave him a gentle shake. "Hey, Blue? Wake up, time to go,"

For a second there was nothing, and I reached out an arm to try again with more force, but then his eyelids began to flicker open to show peeks of forest green awakening. He gave me a droopy morning look.

"Oh, morning May,"

Silver and I corrected him on this one. "Noon,"

He leapt from between the sheets as if someone had set him on fire, the thud waking up Weavile and throwing him to the floor. Blue paid the scowling pokémon no mind, but froze when he saw that Silver, also wide awake, was looking back up at him from the armchair.

"How much longer have I been out than you guys?

I chuckled. "Me? About half a minute. How about you, Silver?"

"A half hour tops," Silver adjusted himself into a regular sitting position on the rich leather, sunlight dancing over his hair.

Blue shook out his mop head, automatically leaving it in spiky disarray. "Well? Silver, get your shirt on. I'll send Charizard for May's team," His forest eyes were wide and lit when he looked at me, as if he'd just shot down a double espresso. "Time to hit the road,"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Our stomachs were still rumbling from missing breakfast, but you could never tell by the aura of cheer around the three of us.

It was only a mile north of the hotel that we made our way in to a green, winding trail called Route 6.

The coarse grass of Saffron's outskirts ruled the area, so high that they seemed to scratch the bright daylight overhead. My grubby old sneakers dragged in the dirt, the sound like rubbing two scraps of sandpaper together, while Silver's and Blue's simply trailed along.

In the grip of warm chills that fell over my skin in the cool outer-city air, I lifted my chin and basked in the sun's rays, a blissful smile on my face.

Blue, who was walking by my side, saw my contentment and let out a low chuckle. "Happy to be off Six Island, May? Or am I just that thrilling to hang out with?"

"Nah, just the off the island thing," I laughed, kicking a loose rock into the tangles of tall grass lining the path.

That dissatisfied him. "Sure," he said with a single, short laugh.

We reached the final bend in the road in that very moment, and the sun, more intense than ever, blasted out from above the weeds. I gaped to myself, wondering how I could have slept through a second of this solar spectacle.

Silver shielded his eyes with his hand. "Whoa- I thought it was supposed to rain later?"

"I guess not," I winced harder as more clouds began to seep away from the sun.

We entered the passage kiosk before us and in a few short strides had crossed the floor.

Suddenly, the sky split open over our heads to douse Saffron City's buildings with bright daylight. I looked around at the legendary buildings in front of me, my legs reduced to jello at the sight of Saffron City. I choked down a gasp. This was ridiculous! I'd been a traveler for 5 years now and I was lit up over a few world landmarks… But I couldn't deny it; the thrills that seemed to be rushing from the core of the golden city were pulling me in, and this time there would be no resisting.

Silver cleared his throat and faced me. "Well, the new colosseum is a few blocks north from here,"

Enthusiasm rattled my whole body, and I pointed straight ahead. "What are we waiting for? Up we go, then!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … …. … … … … … … … … … … … …

And suddenly, there we were. The people became smaller and smaller as they scuttled in and out of the structure, more like ants than humans.

I stood before it and felt myself melt into water in the drain. It was simply the most colossal thing I'd ever seen in my life. From the glass domed roof stood countless taller towers, filled with closed hotel room windows and activity rooms of various sorts. Its walls were cool gray and spotless and split to form an elaborately crafted archway cut into the stone. The ant-sized people shift in an out of it. In its entirety I saw a perfect castle of battling, partying, and everything else under the Kanto sun.

"I haven't seen this place before," Blue admitted into the winding colosseum, shadow overtaking him as he approached Silver and I. "I never imagined it would be like this,"

Silver's pale gray eyes were impossibly wide, like a child's- the only time I'd ever seen a strip of childishness in him. "It's so…"

"Huge," I chuckled. As I admired it, I couldn't help but hear a protesting voice in the back of my head, furious that I'd lost my composition. And so I dashed forward, toward the latest stream of people entering the gates. "Come on guys! I'm not waiting for you!"

And, laughing, I melted into the crowd, Silver and Blue right behind me.

The energy wafting from this compilation of trainers was hard to tear away from, and before I knew it I was riding the current of thrill along with them. Left and right, there would be an Ace trainer gushing about the Battle Arcade, or a Rich kid aiming to overtake the 7 Battle KO challenges. I took some mental notes of locations, faces and people's pokémon. Hey, if I chose to compete in some consecutives in the Battle Tower, it would help to know my opponents.

I observed the square set stone floor of the courtyard and thought of Hoenn's own Battle Tower. Of course, the thin, much-in-need-of-refurbishing building I was thinking of would look like a twig besides this mutant of a colosseum, but still- the memories of being a 10 year old girl toppling well-trained adults left and right placed a prideful smile on my face.

I was filled with ego at 10, and still am.

…..

We crossed the sunlit stone courtyard with swagger in the air we breathed, and stopped to take a look at the crowning centerpiece. Dividing the courtyard in 5 different sections was a huge pokeball, carved out of marble and encircled with a ring of the same shimmering white rock. The water flowed from a hole in the sphere's top, fell over it, and slapped into the fountain with a crystalline tinkling, sun bouncing off of the surface. I slunk through the crowd to get a closer look at it, thoroughly mesmerized. As I drew nearer, the sunlight grew into a plethora. I shielded my eyes to take a closer look. In it, I saw silvery white strands blowing in the light breeze, a pair of kind but distant eyes, a frown on a face that I could never seem to help.

Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder.

"Steven?"

Blue's sharp eyes reciprocated my shock. "Huh? You alright?" He was completely perplexed.

"I'm- I'm sorry," I shook my head, hard. There was a burn behind that vision- a consciousness behind the familiar face that seemed to be staring right into me, regarding me with those sullen eyes.

"Look, it's fine. No passing out, all right, May?" he chuckled at me as I began to regain composition. I reached out to take his open hand.

"Yeah. Sorry," I said, watching as he sat down on the rim of the globe fountain. I took a seat next to him. Admirers, of either us or the fountain, I couldn't tell- stared on.

"So- we have to check in, right? And where's Silver?" I asked, readying myself to dart back onto my feet.

Blue wrapped a hand around my forearm mid-turn, gently levering me back down beside him. "He's booking a room and a few hours in the colosseum right now. We've got time,"

At this point I'd completely calmed my mind, let the rays of warm sun wash away my unease. It felt odd to suddenly be drained of all of my fervor, chilled in such a warm way that I became light and listless as air. I leaned forward; let my face sink into his shoulder, leisurely processing the scent of his jacket, eyes closed. It was then that I felt a light weight rest on my own head. Was he… leaning on me too?

People were mostly passing by now, steadily unclogging the thick ring of trainers that remained encircled around the fountain. My eyes traced edges in the stone floor, following the squared patterns absently. I was about to begin counting them when I heard cursing coming from behind me. My head jerked up, curiosity rising.

Just as I peered into the front line of the crowd, a young couple that had been gazing into each other's eyes were shoved apart, the girl shrieking as she took a header into the fountain in a miniskirt. The boy, wheat blond and thin, aimed another curse at whoever had tossed him aside. Between the two strode none other than Silver, completely unfazed by their reactions.

"Silver?" I can't contain my shock, all the while Blue laughs it up!

Silver strode over to us, only to have his arm caught by the same tanned, pale blond he'd swung out of his way moments ago. Silver's eyes grew dark and solid, teeth clenched. For a moment, I swore there were invisible flames seething from his entity to bathe everyone in the courtyard. A cold shake gripped me as I pondered- was that what he looked like when he ambushed me in the clearing?

He whipped around, and suddenly everything became a blinding rage of fists and flashes of red and blond pounding into each other. Blue and I backed away, the spiky haired boy chuckling in amusement.

I swung out a fist in halfhearted attempt to catch Blue in the face, but missed. "What are you laughing for, you idiot! We have to stop them before someone gets h-"

I was cut off by the cheers of the people that had gathered, shouting "Fight! Fight!", like some schoolyard skirmish. Silver had the boy horribly overpowered and backed into the rim of the fountain. The blond kid, who was struggling to keep from slapping back first into the water, had his shaking fist caught in Silver's palm, and the furious redhead was closing in on it- using it to lever him backwards. With a shot of panic, it occurred to me that at the force he was applying, Silver could break the guy's hand, or even his back.

I yelled out at him, albeit with a broken, high pitched voice. "Silver, relax! You're gonna break his fist!"

Finally, he seemed to acknowledge us. The lock he had on the boy's hand relaxed. I hadn't realized that Silver had had a grip on the boy's collar as well until he suddenly jerked him forward, tossing him into the globe fountain with a tremendous splash.

"Harry!" I heard a female voice cry out. Sure enough, the sopping wet miniskirt-clad girl had clambered out of the fountain. Eyeshadow in the nastiest shade of green dribbled down her cheeks and caught in her black hair like a dark chocolate-mint cookie. I offered her only a grimace, recommending casually that she get out of there and shut it if she knew what was good for her.

That was my cue to BEAT IT. I scrambled away from the courtyard, shouting back to Blue. "I think now would be a good time to grab some lunch!"

His sprint was in sync mine. He smiled nervously back at me. "I think you're right,"

….

Time had slid out of my notice, turning the sky a blissful, clear paler blue promising an invigorating sunset later. I dwelled on the titillating idea of the prime, mystifying midnight that would almost definitely follow it.

"So where are we going now?" I asked once we'd long exited the colosseum grounds.

"Depends," Blue crammed his hands into his pockets. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, we have to prevent being sued now, thanks to Silver,"

"That would be a problem," He said with a small smirk. He looked bizarrely older than before, but maybe that was simply due to his changing clothes this morning. Now he wore a black jacket over a white t-shirt and tan slacks.

Suddenly, he came to a stop, leaving me to skid awkwardly behind him. After a moment of silence, I extended a hand toward him, baffled. "Um, what's wrong?"

He turned only halfway, grinning wider than before to show more of his roguish attitude. "I have an idea,"

"Oh boy,"

"Just hold on a second, okay?" He had put a hand over my eyes now, leading me forward by my wrist in what I judged was south, based on the sun's rays.

"Blue, get your hand off my face, please,"

"You'll have to earn it,"

"_Earn_ it? This isn't funny. Hey!" I could feel him release my wrist with one hand while the other remained obscuring my vision. Now I was really pissed off. What if people were watching this silliness ensue?

My just-freed hand swung out again to swat him away, but, being so kindly blinded, it only grazed his shirtfront. Instead of recoiling from my shove, he caught my wrist just as I pulled away to leave my palm on his chest.

Instinct overcame me, and I tore my hand away from him, only to lose my balance into the process. My lungs were squeezed dry of oxygen before I could catch on to something, leaving me to be thrown into the dirt of the road with an audible "Oof!".

Blue's face ran red. "Haha, oops,"

Well, no harm done. Then I gasped and absorbed the scene around me for observers, but saw not a soul in sight. Pale blue swirled in with citrus- a most delicious blend- coated the clouds and cast pale afternoon shadows beneath the tall trees behind the road. Slowly, my heartbeat settled back to a low drum in my chest.

"Ah, it's alright," A sigh rolled from my lips, losing itself in the midst of a passing breeze. "It's not like I don't make an idiot of myself regularly anyway," Thoughts of tumbling down the steep wall of Fortune Island's crater on two occasions rung high in my mind. I let my eyes close and lay back on my elbows, chilled from the inside out.

Inches behind my back, human heat began to rise. Startled, I tilted my head up far enough to see Blue sitting behind me.

Maybe it was simply the strange view of him I had, considering my neck was twisted backwards, but he seemed to be in a dreamlike stupor. His gaze was so unfocused that I couldn't quite tell whether he was looking straight into me or into the pink fields of sky that peeked out above the grassy drop in front of the road.

"Um, hi there," I smiled.

Backlight went off in his eyes. Yes, he was definitely looking at me. "Hi,"

Fuzziness filled my stomach like I'd been sliced open and stuffed with Butterfree. It was a silly schoolgirl feeling, sitting on a path outside of Saffron City, wandering through idle schoolgirl fantasies, going back to a past where being innocent and helpful would be acceptable. But how I loved to reminisce in that time when I was a 10 year old greenhorn- before I realized that respect would only come to me as a trainer if I toughened up. Now I call them memoirs of my ignorance. I chuckled softly into the quiet peacefulness.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, I've been thinking. Five years ago, I was 10 years old. Clueless as possible, but I had talent. Nobody took me seriously all that time!" I clenched my fists for emphasis.

Blue placed a hand on my head in agreement. "I can see why. You're not very menacing-looking, Miss Birch," he laughed.

I fumed. "Thanks! But as I was saying, I decided one day that I didn't want to be praised like a preschooler drawing a house, I wanted to be a legend. A feared legend,"

"You? Really?"

"Absolutely," I twisted around to face Blue criss-cross style, letting his hand slide from the top of my head to my lower back, plopping my chin into my palm. "And do you know what I did after that, for the first time ever?"

"What was that?"

"I left the scene, for about 2 years. Right after my 8th gym badge. When I returned, I trained like hell and went to Ever Grande to challenge the Elite Four. You know what happened after that,"

"Yeah…" He held onto my waist now, preventing me from inching away from him at all. Up until the moment that I'd finished my little story, I hadn't realized exactly how close I was to him. My legs were uncrossed, strewn out in front of me. Our heads touched lightly, a gesture of unspoken fondness.

"-but I have one question for you," he gripped me hard against his body with both arms. "Why did you do it?"

"I… I couldn't imagine losing. I had tried so hard to strengthen my image by then that failure would be unacceptable. So I cheated. I used more revival herbs on my pokémon than what was the limit," I looked away into the clouds, hoping he wouldn't see my face sink in shame. Suddenly, overwhelming pressure forced me onto my back, right at the edge of the hill's drop. I gasped up at Blue, who had playfully pinned me down by my shoulders.

His eyes twinkled with merriment at my shock. I decided promptly to give him a shock of his own. Instead of recoiling, I leaned up and softly kissed him, trying to time myself. When I pulled back, he tried to kiss me back; I smirked, and took his lapse in attention to place my feet on his chest and force him over my head, down the hill.

Suddenly, I felt a wild grip for my shirtfront, and with a shriek I was torn from the dirt road and went tumbling down the hill on top of him like a rag doll. After a quick moment of dropping, we crashed into the tall grass below, sending wild Pidgey flocking into the skies.

I shook my head clear and looked down. My red jacket had been torn open by the zipper, and left near the top of the little hill, leaving my black tank top underneath, but that was irrelevant at the moment- I'd pinned Blue down successfully. Laughter- ours- filled the area.

"That was fun! Again!" I laughed.

Blue looked completely dazed, his eyes open wide enough to expose the entire forest-like iris. His vision quickly refocused, and he chuckled at the silliness of this lovely emotion along with me.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

We arrived back at the colosseum grounds no more than 15 minutes later, an aura of bliss around us. Silver waited by the fountain, looking thoroughly beaten, but with notice from Charizard back on the island.

"Our battle will have to wait till further notice," Silver looked gruff and unhappy to share the news. "Haven't heard back from Charizard yet,"

I shrugged. "We've got time. Anybody got ideas for tonight?"

"Of course I'm visiting the club. May, are you coming with me?" Blue asked.

"You know I never miss a good party. Silver?"

"I'm in," Silver was probably the biggest lover of clubs in existence.

Still high on excitement from earlier, I skipped up on one foot. "Hey, we should check out our room,"

"_Rooms,_" Silver corrected me. "I get one, you guys get one. You two and your horny asses are impossible to sleep near,"

Red flush overtook my cheeks. Apparently Silver hadn't forgotten last night. But Blue and I? In our own room?

So much to consider…


	6. Feeling the Fire

**Author's Note: **You have my sincerest apologies for the ridiculous lateness of this chapter. I've been bombarded with homework, chores, and working on first chapters. The typical.

But anyway… I hope you guys missed my battle sequences, because this chapter features a particularly intense one. Steven also makes his reappearance. You'll never guess what he's been up to.

By the way, my SoulSilvershipping fic (Hello, I Love You, Won't You Tell Me Your Name?) is out and 4 chapters in now, along with an Ikarishipping fic (Noir.89) so if you haven't checked them out yet, please do! Link's on my profile! I'm working on getting back into a flow! Enjoy, folks!

* * *

_May Birch, 2 Days Later._

_..._

It seemed there was a pleasant shortage of clouds this evening, deep orange and magenta spilled over in dominance over the sky. Nighttime was flickering awake at last, and the party downstairs had just begun. Me? I was happily bragging to a few girls in the corner of the room about my traveling partners, who were doing the same themselves to a couple of male Ace Trainers. We were, besides some green haired guy named Aaron who had come from Sinnoh to visit the summer scene in Kanto, the center of attention. Behind me, the music blared incoherent lyrics and foot stomping electro beats in an unbreakable pattern. This was the life.

I fiddled with my can of soda as a girl in a pink tube top fired a question at me. "So wait a minute, are you going out with Blue? Really?"

"Huh? No, well, yeah, but…" Logic tumbled with pain in my stomach. It was my lips that had kissed him after all, but we were only messing around. Once again, the idea of going back to Fortune Island returned to my head, tugging my lips into a grimace. "Um, it's complicated,"

A few of the more perceptive girls surrounding me plopped down in the lounge chairs and changed the subject.

"Say, who's the redhead over there?" A girl to my left smiled flirtatiously and pointed into the dancing crowd, where Silver was talking actively with Blue about what seemed to be battling. I picked up the word "Hypnosis".

I giggled with pride at my own void of background knowledge. "That's Silver. He's a friend of mine. I think he's single- go talk to him," Of course, I knew by now Silver had quite the wall up between him and most people, and only fooled around with girls to satisfy his hormones.

She beamed. "You think? 'K, I will,"

Just as she sprung from her seat, the door separating the room from the Colosseum's courtyard was flung open, revealing a man clothed in the green staff's uniform. I tried to avert my eyes, but he was clearly headed toward me, and nearly sprinted up to where I sat and hauled me to my feet.

He spluttered out his sentences; his eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Excuse me, miss? You have a few visitors who desperately need to see you! They're trying to knock over the lodging tower!"

"Wait a minute, huh?" I grappled with what he was saying for a moment, refusing to budge from my seat until I was sure that the man wasn't dangerous. "Who?"

He tugged desperately at my forearm. "A group of _Hoenn_ pokémon, miss! Just come on, already!"

Outside, streetlights stood in pairs in front of the guest accommodations, casting circles of yellow light off of the stone. The man hurried me along as I scanned the near horizon for another human, but I could detect no one. Finally, we came to a stop beside building A7, the tower containing my, Blue, and Silvers' rooms. Below the lamp was not a mugger ready to beat me senseless like I'd feared, but pokémon.

Pokémon, _plural_.

6 familiar faces stood beneath the lamp, with Charizard standing, wings folded neatly by his sides, beside them. Swampert, with his prideful aura much like my own, stood center, my Ninetails to his right. Manectric stood close to her; they were the tightest of friends out of my entire party; Aggron was on all fours as opposed to on his feet, his thick, massive tail sweeping over the ground in a happy gesture. On Tropia's back was my Mightyena, Emma.

"Guys! You finally got here!"

A familial, unanimous roar sounded from the lungs of every one of them; it was time to battle. I reabsorbed all of them into new pokeballs and dashed off from where I came, into the Dance Hall.

I practically burst into the room, shoving through partygoers to the other end of the room where Silver had his back to me. One I'd positioned myself behind him, I gave his shoulder a series of urgent taps.

He whipped around, nearly spilling his can of soda in the process, and blinked twice. "What's wrong?"

"My… party… is… here!" I gasped out the words. Suddenly, Silver's face lit with excitement.

"Good. Now we can finally get to that battle,"

I planted my hands on my hips and nodded. "You know I don't lose, right?"

"You will," Resolve matching mine resonated in Silver's low voice, and together we left the Hall, a rivalry's intensity reaping the aura between us.

… … … … … … … … … …

_Central Colosseum, Battle Facilities, 8:47 PM. _

...

"Ladies and Gentleman, this is the battle of the century! On one side, we have the Hoenn legend, May Birch, with her original party!"

An eruption of excitement rushed through the crowd; hoots and claps. The lights were focused down on the battle field, the camera locked on my face. A strange, furious power seethed within me, from the core of my heart, rising from where it had slept buried in a vat of memories. This was me, the legend I used to be, and for a moment it didn't matter what I had done in Hoenn or the mistakes I'd made- I was here, in raw form, doing what I was best at.

I focused my eyes deeply into Silver's and didn't budge at the sound of the crowd.

"In the other side, we have the Johto fighter, nicknamed the Phantom of Johto, Silver!"

There was a renewal of enthusiasm from the crowd, reaching fever pitch. I smiled slightly at the fact that he had just as much recognition as I had; that made the odds feel more even. And then, I bowed my head slightly and laughed. He was still going down.

"This will be a 3-on-3 match!" The announcer clutched the microphone closer to his mouth. "Let it begin!"

"Tropia!" I whipped out a pokeball and thrust it into the air. A massive pokémon, with the menacing quality and stature of a dinosaur, was released from it. This was my Tropius.

A flash of surprise bounded through Silver's eyes as he took it in, but there was no hesitation. "Feraligatr, let's go!"

He tossed out a pokeball, and out of it burst the heavy bodied Feraligatr that was all too familiar. I remember him, carrying me through the forest with the patience of a martyr, and as he roared out with his jaws open wide, I thought of the ferocity locked inside of him that was ready to be unleashed now and nearly shivered.

I jumped at the chance to attack, but my voice melded with Silver's in a unanimous call.

"Tropia, Earthquake!"

"Hydro Cannon!"

Feraligatr blasted a column of water with the circumference of a tree from its mouth, the most powerful Water move in existence exploding at Tropia with such force that Feraligatr was not only blown backwards, but the Earthquake very nearly didn't serve its purpose fast enough. My heart rattled.

"Now feint to the left, and Fly!" I ordered. The ground had begun to pulse and burst under Feraligatr's feet; the Hydro Cannon dissipated as Feraligatr began its one turn rest atop the Earthquake.

Tropia shot up in the air out of range of the Hydro Cannon and Earthquake and raced at the reeling Feraligatr. Hydro Cannon was the equivalent of a Hyper Beam; it would be a moment before Feraligatr would be moving again.

Meanwhile, Tropia was speeding at Feraligatr with power to crush an airplane.

"2nd Combination!" I shouted. Tropia would know what I meant; Silver wouldn't. The crowd held their breath, no doubt in confusion at the purpose of the order.

Tropia veered a few degrees to the side, slashing and flinging Feraligatr off of his feet with the blades of Tropia's back leaves. The Water-type landed into a rugged patch of rock that the Earthquake had driven from the ground. Tropia deftly swung back around and planted himself in front of me, preparing for the beaten Feraligatr's next attack.

When I looked over to Silver to see his reaction, I was nearly bowled over with amazement. He stood in a completely stoic and calm pose, arms folded; eyes digging back into me. He seemed to know something that I didn't, and from that, discomfort twisted in my stomach.

Suddenly his eyes flashed with attention. "Avalanche!"

Feraligatr sprung at Tropia with the massive speed I'd seen it display in the water when he'd tailgated Charizard's ExtremeSpeed over the ocean, like a speedboat. Feraligatr bent down low with his elbow jutted out as he charged, and his ice coated form smashed at maximum power into Tropia. The elbow slammed into Tropia's chest, jamming upward to lift him clear off his feet and into the wall behind him, nearly crushing me in the process. Safety debris tumbled from the wall where Tropia had struck it, as Feraligatr skidded backwards to stand before Silver, who was smirking at my reaction.

I scowled, wondering the amount of HP Tropia had lost with that double-power, double super-effective Avalanche. Almost all of it, undoubtedly. We could suffer no more hits.

Fuming, I shouted my next command. "Tropia, prepare a SolarBeam!"

With his practiced riposte, Tropia raised his head high in the air, and a ball of green energy formulated in his mouth. Silver was in action just as the process had begun.

"Ice Fang, Feraligatr!"

At the order, Feraligatr's teeth began to collect shards of glowing blue ice as he charged at that same magnificent velocity. My head jerked back with the shock; there was no way Tropia could land the SolarBeam with Feraligatr that close in range.

I was irate, but waited a moment, and just as Feraligatr's feet crossed a 15 foot range of Tropia, I shouted; "Change of plans! Fire at the ground, now!"

Tropia was frazzled with my sudden outburst, but obeyed and the lime green beam shot from his mouth like a bullet, colliding with the rocky ground between him and Feraligatr. Beneath the blast, stones the size of Feraligatr himself flew from the earth to meet him directly in the chest, and he slammed back into the earth, plowing backwards in a direct path toward his trainer; a gust of sand burst into the air.

Silence gripped the audience as the dust began to clear away.

Feraligatr lay fallen before Silver's feet in a dead faint. The sound of the stands was a combination of gasps and exclamations, and finally, applause. The announcer's voice broke through my head, crackling over the intercom.

"Feraligatr is unable to battle, making Tropia the victor!"

Tropia, huffed in exhaustion, but his eyes were bright with the realization of his victory. Sucking in a big breath, he threw his head in the air and erupted in a cry of pride, and the crowd applauded his strength.

"I'm proud of you, Tropia. Take a break," I reached for the ball on my belt and reabsorbed the exhausted Tropius, and then I chuckled. This was going to be a long battle…

* * *

_Steven Stone. _

…

"I'm going to have to ask you to repeat that to me, Steven,"

Cynthia stroked the blond strands running down the back of her head in embarrassment. Or at least, as embarassed as Cynthia ever got. I let my mouth twitch in a sort of patient smile, if that was an alright word for it.

"Not a problem…" I grappled with where to begin. "May was challenging the Pokémon League, and it was apparently her first series of battles for a year. She made her way through the rest of the Elite Four, and then, to me,"

I paused, to laugh. "You should have seen the look on her face when she saw me waiting there after I'd gotten the call that a trainer was advancing quickly through the Elite Four. It was like somebody had stolen the champion away and left a gray-haired mouse to compensate. And then she said to me, 'No need to explain a thing. The Champion is on his lunch break. It's perfectly fine. I'll come back later,'"

And then I couldn't help but laugh again; she was such a character sometimes. Of course, that was back when I felt that I even knew her.

"Are you alright? Steven?"

Her voice split me from the dull reverie, and I frowned in apology. "Sorry for that. As I was saying, she and I battled for hours. Towards the beginning, though, I realized that I'd been fighting too hard. I wanted to intimidate her, not crush her, but it was too late. She jumped to conclusions, I guess, but the ending result was cheating. You know the League rules?"

She twisted her fingers in midair, looking slightly aloof. "I presumed they were different in Sinnoh, but was it maybe the one limiting Item-Status restoration?"

"It was," I said. "People cheat all the time against me, in desperation. I detected it about halfway through the battle, but I let it slide. I realized why I forgave her so willingly later on, and then I opened my mouth about it, and it ended up being my demise," Gabby and Ty. She remembered that particular part of the story, and we both knew it.

Cynthia extended a sympathetic hand to stroke my own, which sat clenched on the table. "All is fair in love and war, you know the saying,"

"I didn't realize it was a war until it was too late," I felt the agony begin to burn, for not only me, but for May. For what happened. I could've prevented it. But then I shook away from the helpless anger. "And now I'm here,"

With that finished, Cynthia solemnly raised her cup of coffee to her lips, averting her gaze. I realized I'd gotten a bit too intense there. Not the casual chat I'd been hoping to have with an old friend.

Thoroughly humiliated, I chuckled. "Forgive me for that. I lost myself a bit there,"

"Forgiven," Cynthia smiled cheerily. "You don't have anywhere to stay, do you?"

I shook my head no, seeing where this was going the moment she uttered the words.

"I have a vacation house up in Vermillion. Why don't you come and stay with me for a while?"

At the moment, I had two options; I could stay with her and risk the inevitable while still in pursuit of May, or slip the store manager a 50 and sleep behind the counter of the Café. What to do? I could turn her down lightly, in the gentlemanly way I'd been taught to do ever since I was a young teenager and the girls began lusting after me and my rich boy persona. Instead, I did what I most desired, an in-the-moment decision that played off of my inner covetousness.

I folded my arms. "I think I'll take you up on that offer,"

* * *

_May Birch._

…

"Dodge it, and charge a Fire Fang!" Heat collected at the pearl-white knives in her mouth, which turned into cloaks of raging flame. Speed was of the essence when using the Elemental Fang moves with a pokémon not of the type of move it was using; the flames would easily burn Emma herself if she weren't careful.

Weavile was in range now, ducking deep below Emma's mouth for an uppercut.

"Ice Punch!" Silver shouted.

Weavile's chilled blue fist smashed Emma flat beneath her chin in unison with Emma's attack, her flaming fangs lodging into Weavile's fist. Steam blasted into the arena around the two pokémon, just as I'd hoped.

"Seismic Toss, Emma!"

It was too murky to see her swing her head, but Weavile was thrown down before Silver with magnificent velocity. A wall of white steam obscured my side of the field; only half the audience could see Emma dig deep into the ground.

Moments later, every last bit of steam had risen into the open sky above the colosseum. My eyes were glued to Silver's face, which was contorted in confusion at what he _couldn't _see. Then he suddenly seemed to regain his composure.

"Stick your hand in the ground and use Dark Pulse!" he ordered the Ice-type, and it plunged its pristine white claws into the sandy earth.

Black aura collected around his fist, and suddenly, burst, turning the entire field an intense black shade. An arm immediately drew to protect my face as I hissed in frustration. Emma came flying up out of the ground in a split second, right behind Weavile, her body coursing with angry dark energy sent by the pulse attack.

Her entire canine form was rippling as she roared and brought her fangs back down onto Weavile's head. They were both thrown backward with the intensity of the attacks, badly beaten.

Sweatdrops beaded on my forehead as I pondered. Silver knew how to counterattack; any offense I pulled would be fired back at me. But our last pokémon were both near exhaustion, and there could be no more countering on his part, nor any deliberation on mine. If he had been a stranger, I would have lost by now. This was a matter of knowing my opponent.

I clenched my fists at my sides. "Sucker Punch, Emma!"

In a split second, my loyal friend bounded at Weavile with blinding speed, her body turning into a blur of gray and black as she was launched forward.

"Ice Shard!" Two increased-priority attacks. In this case, Sucker Punch should hit before Ice Shard, but Weavile, specifically Silver's, was the fastest Ice-type on earth. Perfect.

Weavile braced its weight on its back leg as she came at him. The shards of ice gathered around Weavile's claws, and he made a huge, powerful arc with its arms to strike Emma dead in her chest. Emma's agonized cry belted over the audience, shocking a brief chorus of gasps. Then, silence.

Amazingly, impossibly, Emma picked herself up off of the ground shakily, her body limp and beaten. Intense topaz still glittered in her eyes, an epitome of her valor. The audience watched her. Weavile, who until then had stood motionless by Silver on their end of the field, suddenly screeched out in pain. A flare of fire burst from his forearm where Emma's claws had dug into it. The Fire Fang had left a nasty burn, just as I'd hoped.

Finally, the Ice-type wilted, falling on its side in the field. The referee on duty scanned over the pokémon as it rested motionless in the sand. He flipped it over onto its back. X's were over its eyes.

Backing away, the ref muttered something into a phone-like device, and all of a sudden the announcer's voice came alive above the colosseum.

"Silver's Weavile is unable to battle. That makes May Birch the winner of this match!"

All around, a thousand voices erupted in cheers of celebration and revere for the battle of legendary trainers. As I observed the ensuing applause, Silver walked slowly up to me.

He handed me a wad of money. "Good battle,"

For a moment, I was alarmed with his shame. "You look upset. Do you realize you nearly kicked my ass?"

"Yup," he chuckled in the direction of the stands, where people began to come down from their seats and exit the area. "You got lucky, Birch,"

And we left through the back exit, where the most of the spectators had left and made their way back to their sleeping quarters.

"I sure did. That reminds me, we have to go get Blue. Shame he missed the battle,"

"Right here," A familiar voice said smoothly.

Silver and I wheeled around to see Blue, who had stopped right behind us. "That was awesome. I thought Mightyena were glass canons? Yours sure could take a hit, May,"

I smiled. Emma had done amazing. "She's a tough girl. Her endurance came with a cost though. She has to charge up a lot of her attacks in order for them to do the amount of damage they should do. Without charge time, about 10 percent of a move's power can be knocked off the top,"

Suddenly, Blue's green eyes lit with zeal. "You know, my Tyranitar had that same problem…"

… and we continued on towards our rooms. At the same time, as elated as I was for having won, something felt uneasy, like I had lost something. Someone. I swallowed the resounding chill.

For the first time since I'd left Fortune Island, something just didn't feel right...


End file.
